Patient shot dead at Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital

Hanover EMT Jeremy LaBombard helps a patient who was evacuated Tuesday due to an active-shooter lockdown at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley News

By Tim Camerato

For VTDigger

One person was killed in a shooting at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Tuesday afternoon, and the alleged shooter, a member of the victim’s family, is in custody.

Authorities have identified the suspect as Travis Frink, 49, of Warwick, R.I.

Police say he shot and killed his mother, Pamela Ferriere, 70, of Groton, N.H., in one of the medical center’s intensive care units.

New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said the incident is over and there is no longer any threat to the public.

At an earlier news conference, John P. Kacavas, DHMC’s chief legal officer, said the medical center’s emergency department and intensive care units were back open.

The suspect was apprehended at 2:57 p.m., police said. Witnesses said police pulled a man out of a silver Ford Escape at the corner of Lahaye Drive and Mount Support Road, just south of the DHMC campus. The man was taken away in a police cruiser, and caution tape was put up around the car.

Shortly after 3 p.m., Lebanon police and New Hampshire State Police were actively sweeping the hospital campus, including checking under and around cars in the parking lot. Outside the administration building, where officials had established an incident command post, hospital employees asked when they would be able to return to work.

“They’re literally going from room to room to make sure that this is an isolated incident like we believe it is,” Lebanon police Capt. Timothy Cohen said.

Cohen participated in a 2014 active shooter drill at the medical center.

“A thing like this is invaluable,” Cohen said at the time. “Unfortunately, it’s a necessity in today’s society. Not just in Lebanon, but anywhere. … Nobody is necessarily exempt from this.”

The medical center went into lockdown shortly after 2 p.m. following reports of an active shooter in the level 4 south intensive care unit. An alert sent to DHMC employees warned that they should shelter in place, while others evacuated to the administration buildings on the east side of campus close to Route 120.

At about the same time, police were told to be on the lookout for a gray Ford with Rhode Island plates. The DHMC alert said police were looking for a 6-foot-1-inch male with salt-and-pepper blond hair and wearing a red camouflage shirt. He was believed to be carrying a camouflage backpack as well.